World Humanitarian Day 2021

On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day (WHD).

Each year, WHD focuses on a theme, bringing together partners from across the humanitarian system to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, and for the safety and security of aid workers.

This year, we highlight the immediate human cost of the climate crisis by pressuring world leaders to take meaningful climate action for the world’s most vulnerable people.

WHD is a campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and humanitarian partners.

“The climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win.” 
– United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

#TheHumanRace
A global challenge for climate action in solidarity with people who need it the most. 

The climate emergency is wreaking havoc across the world at a scale that the humanitarian community and people at the front lines cannot manage.

Time is already running out for millions of the world’s most vulnerable people – those who have contributed least to the global climate emergency but are hit the hardest.

Millions of people are already losing their homes, their livelihoods and their lives.

With most climate campaigns focused on slowing climate change and securing the planet’s future, World Humanitarian Day 2021 will highlight the immediate human cost of the climate crisis and pressure world leaders to take meaningful climate action for the world’s most vulnerable people.

In the week of World Humanitarian Day, August 19, to get the world racing against the climate crisis clock, we will stage a global race challenge like no other.

The challenge will be hosted on Strava, the world’s leading exercise platform. Whether participants run, roll, ride, walk, swim, kick or hit a ball, each action will count towards helping us carry our message to world leaders when they meet at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.

Whether or not they break a sweat, participants will be prompted to share the campaign and the Call to Action to global leaders on their social media using #TheHumanRace.